Javelin Joint Venture

The Raytheon-Lockheed Martin Javelin Joint Venture has received a $111.6m US Army Global War on Terror supplemental contract to produce additional Javelin missiles and command launch units.

The Raytheon-Lockheed Martin Javelin Joint Venture has received a $111.6m (£63.1m) US Army Global War on Terror supplemental contract to produce additional Javelin missiles and command launch units (CLUs).

Raytheon claims that Javelin is the world’s first man-portable ‘fire-and-forget’ medium-range missile system designed for operations in all environments. The joint venture expects to deliver the missiles and CLUs to the US Army in the spring of 2011.

Duane Gooden, Raytheon Missile Systems’ Javelin programme director and president of the Javelin Joint Venture, said: ‘The Javelin is very effective in the battlefield. It weighs only 49 pounds and is soft launched, which means the rocket motor ignites outside the launch tube.

‘Javelin’s long-wave imaging infrared technology also allows use of the weapon during poor weather conditions.’